 This week, our whole school performed at the Polyfest in Invercargill. We delivered a powerful performance that was the culmination of months of hard work.
Under the expert guidance of tutor Whaea Jaki Eales, our students showcased their dedication and talent, making our entire school community incredibly proud. Their commitment and skill truly shone on stage.  Kia ora Parents, Whānau and Caregivers
It has been great to be back to school this week after my refreshment leave. Thank you all for the lovely welcome back, so nice to connect with tamariki, staff and parents again. Relationships are at the heart of our work. Your children thrive when you connect positively with their teacher and share the learning journey with both your child and their teacher. A special thank you to Kay Stevens for stepping into the Acting Principal role for the last few weeks. Kay works within our school as our LSC and her experience in principalship lead to a very seamless transition into the role. She was very capably supported by Becs Prattley and Rachael Flaus. Congratulations to our new Board of Trustees members. A special welcome to TJ, who has been co-opted to provide continuity for the board, Rebekah Prattley , Zac Andrews, Monika Du Plessis, Jacqui Ruddenklau, Sonya Stewart & Sowmya Srimanthula. This is an important governance role within our school. It will be great to form a new team very soon. The board members enjoyed meeting with you during Three Way Interviews where they were seeking your feedback on our school. This is an important process so we can continue to meet the needs of our tamariki and ensure our school is open and purposeful. I have been so impressed with the progress with your children’s writing. We are working very closely with Lauren Latimer who is a professional development provider and teachers and students are making amazing progress with their achievement. This is exciting to see. I am sure you are seeing the positivity in your children as they are gaining skills in literacy. The Polyfest performance was such a highlight. I felt so immensely proud to see our tamariki and staff on stage showing passion, pride and energy as they performed. I am sure you also felt this as you watched your own tamariki performing. The support was amazing and so appreciated. We will have our Open Morning next week, Wednesday 27th August 2025. Everyone is welcome to come and learn how we engage our learners in a variety of ways. We look forward to meeting your family from 09:00am to 10:30am. Also a reminder of the half day on Tuesday 26 August 2025 for our staff to attend the paid union meeting. Children are to be collected from school at 12:20pm please. If you wish your child to remain at school on the afternoon of 26th August, and you have not yet returned the slip to the office, please let Anneke know by the end of today. I hope you are enjoying our new communication system. It will take us all a little while to become familiar with where things will be but we hope over time we will see the benefits. Nga mihi Linda Fraser Principal At West Gore School, our tamariki are privileged to have 'Academies'. This is a 10 week programme during Term 3 each year. Students select from several options on offer, all delving deeper into developing skills in the NZ Curriculum. The WGS News Crew has been learning about storyboards and script writing to develop short clips about Academies for you. They film and edit their clip, adding in music and titles to bring it together. Here is the first episode from the West Gore School News Crew. Enjoy!
 Kia ora Whanau, Parents and Caregivers,
From today, 15 August, our fortnightly PDF newsletter will be replaced by a News Page on our website – a regularly updated page sharing stories, celebrations, and events that are relevant to the wider community. And a Weekly Email – a highlights email sent every week, linking directly to new stories on the News Page. Why the change? This approach will provide more timely updates, make information easier to find and revisit, reduce the need to download large PDF files and bring all school news together in one place. If you already receive our newsletter by email, you don’t need to do anything – you’ll automatically get the new weekly news email. If you are not yet subscribed, you can click here to subscribe. You can unsubscribe from our news email anytime. Our News Page is live now, and you can take a look here. This week children have been very involved in practices for Polyfest, which is this Monday, 18 August. Thank you to Ms Matthews for all of her mahi with Polyfest organisation, and the teaching team for their help and support with this. Yesterday the tamariki looked wonderful and sang beautifully, so it will be really exciting to see them on stage at the ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill. West Gore School performs at 10.50am. We really want to ensure that your children are well prepared for this big day out. Please note that every family needed to return the slip, giving permission for your child/ren to attend. If you haven’t done this, it’s not too late, as you can just email the office <[email protected]> and advise if they are or are not attending, and if they are being picked up from Polyfest or travelling back to school on the bus. If you are taking your child in your car from Polyfest please inform your child’s teacher before you leave with them, so they can mark them off on the class list. DO NOT BE LATE TO SCHOOL ON MONDAY MORNING. The buses are leaving just after 9am, and if your child misses the bus, then Anneke will phone you for them to be collected as all staff are going to Polyfest. Timetable for the Day:
If the weather is very wet, we will watch performances for longer and then come back to school to arrive at 2.45pm. We had a great Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday evening. This was the last meeting of the previous Board of Trustees. The staff would like to pass on a HUGE THANK YOU to outgoing Board members who have contributed so much during their term of office. The new Board members have taken office on Wednesday this week, and will meet on Thursday 4th September 2025. We congratulate those whanau on their election to the Board and thank them for their commitment to supporting the education of all tamariki at West Gore School. Please see the Board News corner in this newsletter for comments and information from the meeting. Have a great weekend Ngā mihi Kay Stevens Acting Principal For Room 12's writing, they have been learning about information reports. They are learning about topic-specific language and using the PEEL (point, evidence, elaboration, link) acronym to structure their paragraphs. Look at these excellent examples! David Attenborough, eat your heart out! We are pleased to confirm the members of the West Gore School Board of Trustees for the 2025–2028 term:
We’d also like to extend heartfelt appreciation and farewell to Shelley Lithgow, whose long‑standing dedication has left a lasting impact on our school community. Torrone Smith will continue to support the board to ensure a smooth transition. We look forward to a positive, productive, and collaborative term ahead.
Wednesday, 27 August 2025 from 9-10:30amWe welcome you to come and explore how we engage our learners in a variety of ways.
At West Gore School we:
We look forward to meeting you and your family.  Monday, 18 August 2025Polyfest is held at the ILT Stadium in Invercargill. We will be travelling by bus and departing school at 9.10am.
When we arrive at Polyfest, we will eat our morning tea before our performance at 10.50am. After our performance, we will watch some of the other performances, and have our lunch at the stadium. Weather permitting, we will stop at Queens Park for a play on our way home (at approximately 1.00pm). We will be back at school by the end of the normal school day. All children will need to bring a packed lunch, snacks and a water bottle. We encourage whānau to come to Invercargill to watch the performance. If you are intending on coming to watch, you will need to travel down in your own vehicle.  Join us for a special Breakfast Club on Thursday 28 August 2025 at 8am, in the hall.
Come dressed in yellow and bring a gold coin donation that will be donated to Cancer Society.  Life Education is an organisation that provides health education programs for children, primarily in schools, with a focus on building self-esteem and teaching about the human body and healthy choices.
Life Education Trust aims to empower children with the knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions about their health and well-being throughout their lives. Here at West Gore School we are lucky enough to have an annual visit from Pip and Harold, where each class gets 3-4 visits over the course of the week. |
|